Virtual machines are software implementations of physical machines. Virtual machines are often used so that the resources of a single physical computer can be shared among many virtual computers. Each virtual machine may include virtual hardware resources, such as virtual disks, virtual processing resources, and virtual network interface cards. When multiple virtual machines share the same physical Ethernet port, this is referred to as virtual Ethernet port aggregation or VEPA. VEPA is part of the Edge Virtual Bridging Proposal, Version 0, Rev. 0.1, IEEE (Apr. 23, 2010) (hereinafter, “EVB Standard”), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. According to the EVB Standard, an edge relay (ER) is virtual layer 2 switch used by multiple virtual machines to share the same physical Ethernet port. An edge relay can operate in VEPA mode or virtual Ethernet bridging (VEB) mode. Each virtual machine includes a virtual switch interface (VSI) that connects the virtual machine to an ER. If a VM connected to an ER operating in VEPA mode desires to send packets to another VM connected to the same ER, the EVB Standard requires that the packet be sent out of the physical Ethernet port, to an adjacent bridge, and back to the VM via the ER. The adjacent bridge is required to build VEPA forwarding tables so that packets will be transmitted correctly between VMs. If the ER is operating in VEB mode, packets can be sent between VSIs connected to the same ER without requiring that the packets be sent to the adjacent bridge.
It is desirable to test the functionality of Ethernet bridges that implement VEPA. Ethernet bridges that implement VEPA can be tested using network emulators that emulate VEPA end stations. One aspect of testing Ethernet bridges implementing VEPA may include testing the functionality of the Ethernet bridge when a virtual switch interface is moved from a virtual switch connected to one physical port of the bridge to a virtual switch connected to another physical port of the bridge. In a live network, such a move may occur when an operator desires to move a virtual machine to new hardware with faster processing capabilities. However, current network emulators do not have the capability of effecting movement of virtual switch interfaces between virtual switches connected to different physical ports of a device under test. Moreover, if a move is performed manually on the network emulator and the move fails because the destination port on the device under test lacks sufficient resources to support the virtual switch interface, the time and labor used to effect the move will be wasted.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for effecting movement of virtual switch interfaces between virtual switches connected to different physical ports of a device under test.